PMD: Explorers Society: Storm of Confusion
by Tsutarja-Eievui
Summary: The first story in the Explorers Society saga! Society leader Syro begins having strange dreams that fast turn into nightmares! When a new exploration team is formed...are they somehow linked to the mysterious past of Syro? And through her - the Society?
1. The Explorers Society

**Just something that's been sitting in my mind for a while. A new spin on the PMD series!**

**I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

><p>"<em>I<em>_ wasn__'__t __always __this __way__."_

"_You__ weren__'__t__?"_

"_No__. __Believe __it __or __not__, __I __was __once __just __like__ you__."_

"_Really__? __How__?"  
><em>

"_Just__ like__ you__, __I__ was__ searching__ for__ who__ I__ was__, __what __I__ was__ meant__ to__ be__, __what __I__ was __meant __to__ do__. __Wandering__, __lost__, __I__ had__ no __clue __what __destiny__ wanted__ me __to __be__. __It__ wasn__'__t__ always__ straight __and __narrow__, __the__ way __it __seems __to __be__ now__."_

"_But__, __I __know__ who __I__ am__."  
><em>

"_Do __you__?"_

"_Yeah__. __I__'__m __not __lost__ or__ wandering__. __I__'__m __just__...taking __a__ different__ route__."_

* * *

><p>The sun crept bright and shining over the horizon in the far distance, slowly spreading fingers of dawn light to the edges of a rocky world.<p>

Shadows grew where the sunlight shone over the boulders that jutted from the surface, breaking the flood of light as it appeared.

But the area was silent, even in the face of the coming sun. The endless crag was empty and quiet, belying what activity existed beneath the dark brown surface.

"Ryu! All of our supplies are in order!" a Totodile named Kione said to his partner, a Charmander.

Ryu nodded at him and took one of the bags that Kione was carrying. They were red with an orange ember marking on the flaps, and actually light and near-empty.

"We've packed light to keep us unencumbered for the chase, Ryu." a young-looking Snivy told him as he took up his own pack.

"Good thinking Tyler." Ryu nodded at him.

"Team Magma Storm! Report in!" a voice called over to them.

Ryu, Kione, and Tyler looked around to see a Riolu leaning against the wall of the cavern called simply "The Base."

"Daniel, sir! All of our supplies are in order and we are ready to apprehend Derby!" Ryu told him as he and his team walked over.

"Yes alright, and I see you are packing light. Might I ask how long this little endeavor shall carry on?" Daniel asked him.

"Approximately two days. That providing there is no change in weather patterns or population as we were informed by Team Ingrain." Tyler said, holding out a piece of paper.

"Team Ingrain is rarely wrong, so I say you may go along!" Daniel said, stamping the page with his seal, a star.

"Yes sir. We will be back with the criminal in custody as soon as possible." Ryu said as he and his team darted up the ladder that led to the surface world.

"Arceus-speed, my good Ryu. May good luck forever be with you!" Daniel called after him.

"Daniel, did Team Magma Storm already leave?" a voice behind the Riolu asked. He turned around to see a pair of long brown ears and, looking down, saw the deep brown eyes of an Eevee.

"Yes ma'am, Syro! They just left, doncha know?" Daniel said.

"I don't know. That's why I asked you! And don't call me 'ma'am'. Syro is fine." Syro replied.

"Syro! Syro! We have a problem with Terminal 4-B!" a Shinx shouted as he ran across towards her. Syro jumped back as he was tackled by a Pikachu, pushing them both to the floor.

"I told you, Techno! I can fix it!" the Pikachu shouted at him.

"Last time you fixed something, Watt, we were knee-deep in blown-up wires for three days!" Techno shot back.

"That's only because of your shotty wiring! If you just let me look at how you fix these things, we wouldn't be having issues!" Watt exclaimed.

Syro rolled her eyes as the two technicians went back to work, arguing and forgetting what they were going to say to her. How they wound up partners, she didn't know.

"Yes...now, have you received any news from Air Squad yet?" she asked, turning back to Daniel.

"No not yet, but they'll be back, I'll even bet! Dusty's feisty and eager to fly, so she'll be back in the blink of an eye!" Daniel said confidently.

"They've been gone for two days now. It normally doesn't take Air Squad this long to do a simple recon mission." Syro said worriedly.

"Shall I send Ground Squad out and about? Who knows, maybe they'll come around." Daniel said.

"No." Syro sighed, "Give Ground Squad some time to recover from their last mission. I guess we'll just have to sit and wait for Air Squad to get back."

She fell quiet as she looked around the cave. Pokemon dashed all over the place, preparing for missions, fixing broken computers, readying supplies...all in a day's work at the Explorers Society. The treasure hunting team, Team Water Pledge, was about to leave for a new mission while Team Ingrain, the exploration team, was relaxing after a long week in a far-off forest. The Tech Crew, Watt and Techno, had settled their dispute and were fiddling with the malfunctioning computer.

And they weren't in sight, but she knew that the Ground Squad Reconnaissance team was resting as well. Everything was as it should be...so why did she feel so wary?

"Everything's going smoothly..." she murmured.

"Ah my friend, but in you I sense, waves of malcontent...now tell me, would you care to vent?" Daniel asked her.

"Everything is going great. Better than I could hope for..." Syro started.

"But...?" Daniel prompted.

"But I can't shake this feeling that something really bad is about to happen. It's like...all of this quietude and easy living...is just like the calm before a terrible storm. Like a shadow's hanging over the Base, just waiting to spring on us when we least expect it." she said.

"Ah...the common case of nervous nerves and wary swerves. On the edge and on the alert, that is how you work." her partner said, nodding.

"I know it's silly to worry about this sort of thing. But still." Syro sighed as she walked to the entrance ladder and looked up, "Something's about to happen. Something big. Something bad."


	2. The New Arrivals

_Fire__._

_The __first__ thing__ she__ saw __was__ fire__. _

_Eating__ up__ all__ in__ its __path__, __sending __billows__ of __choking__ smoke __into __the __air__...__devouring __everything__, __threatening__ everyone__..._

"_Syro__!" __a__ voice__ shouted__. __The__ Eevee __looked __around__ for__ the__ one__ who __had__ called__ her __name__._

"_Syro__! __Help__!" __the__ voice __was__ getting__ desperate__. __But__ who__ was __it__? __It__ wasn__'__t __the __voice__ of __anyone__ in__ her__ Society__..._

"_Who__ are __you__? __Where __are__ you__? __I__'__m__ coming__!" __Syro__ shouted__, __launching __for__ the __direction __in __which __the__ voice__ had__ come__ from__._

"_You __know__ me__! __You __always __have__!" __the__ voice __said__. __But __it __was __growing__ weaker__...__fainter__..._

"_I__'__ll__ save __you__!" __Syro __shouted __as __her __paws__ carried __her __to __the __flames__._

"_Syro__! __Remember__! __You__ have __to __remember__!" __the __voice __shouted __at __her__. __Syro __was__ growing __desperate __as __she __peered __anxiously __through __the __dancing __fire__._

"_Remember__!"_

Commotion outside of her room woke the Syro from her slumber. Rubbing her face with a paw, she stood up and stretched, making her way towards the door to her room.

She didn't remember her dream.

* * *

><p>"What's all the hubbub, Daniel?" she asked as she entered the main room of the Base.<p>

"Air Squad's back, Syro, my lead. But they have brought some lost souls to thee!" the Riolu told her.

"Really? Now that's interesting..." Syro murmured. The two friends continued towards the center of the room, where a crowd of Society members blocked off the newcomers from view.

The crowd parted at their arrival and Syro looked down at a trio of young, possibly very young, Pokemon.

The new arrivals looked around, terrified at being surrounded like this. There was an Electrike, a Buizel, and a Scraggy, all looking to be in bad shape.

"Hello," Syro said as the commotion ceased, "welcome to the Explorers Society. My name is Syro, I'm the leader here. What are your names?"

The Electrike was the first to recover and he stood up over his friends, his fur sticking up and crackling with electricity.

"What's the big idea, dragging us here? We were fine until that Pidgey and her friends came along and kidnapped us!" he growled.

The aforementioned Pidgey, Dusty the leader of the Air Squad, fluttered down to stand beside Syro and explain.

"We didn't tie 'em up or anything, Syro. They were half-conscious out in the desert heat, so we took 'em here quick-like to get 'em fixed up." she said.

"We were fine!" the Electrike protested.

"Actually, you weren't." one of the Air Squad members, Speedy the Starly, said. He flapped down next to Dusty and glared severely at the Electrike.

"You were near dead, bucko. Now I believe Syro asked you a question. Who in the blue skies are you?"

"I'm Russell." the Electrike said.

"I'm Lucky." his friend the Buizel told them.

Pointing to the Scraggy, he added "And this little guy is Shaney."

"Well Russell, Lucky, and Shaney, where did you come from? We don't see many Pokemon like you around here." Syro said.

"Whaddaya mean 'Pokemon like us'?" Russell asked suspiciously.

"She means Electrikes, Buizels, and Scraggies are not common out here in Mirage Desert." Watt said.

"We're from a forest a long ways away from here. We left to start our own exploration team." Lucky said peaceably, silencing any arguments Russell might conjure up.

"Really now?" Syro asked, "That's quite a venture for Pokemon as young as you."

"We may be young, but we're tough as tough can be!" Russell said proudly.

"And, as luck would have it, here we are! At the very center of the most renowned exploration company in this area! Explorers Society members, the pleasure is all ours." Lucky said, ducking his head.

"Well, you're welcome here. All explorers are." Speedy said.

"Absolutely." Daniel said. There was a collective sound of welcome from the others, and Lucky rubbed his head nervously.

"Well, we'd hate to be a bother..." he started.

"So teach us how to be the best exploration team in the world!" Russell said, cutting right across him.

Syro held back a laugh as she stood up and eyed the hopefuls. She decided she would play along.

"So, you want to be a great exploration team, eh?" she asked them as she started to pace.

"The just great. The greatest!" Russell said.

"The greatest, hm? Big dreams for such small Pokemon." Syro warned.

"We can take it!" Russell told her.

"Well, I don't doubt you can. But...can you handle what the Society dishes out? Who agrees that the Society's training program is way too tough for these little bits to handle?" Syro asked, raising her voice so the other members could here.

"Oh yeah, way hard." Smoke of Team Water Pledge nodded.

"You don't stand a chance." Speedy added.

"Never in a million years." Marcus of Team Ingrain said.

"Well how do ya know we can't take it?" Russell challenged them.

"How do you know you can?" Syro countered.

"'Cause we're the best!" Russell boasted.

"Do you think you have what it takes?" Syro asked, whipping around and staring the Electrike down.

"We know we do!" Russell growled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah we are!"

"Then welcome to the Society, Russell and friends!" Syro announced, lashing her tail.

"Wait, really?" Russell asked, surprised as he fell back into his friends.

"Congrats kid, you're in!" Speedy told him.

"You'll need to see our medical team before you start training, though. When you're rested, you'll meet everyone in the Society and start learning how we do things here." Syro said. "Daniel, see to it they get the attention they need."

Daniel saluted her and walked towards the new arrivals, smiling down at them.

"Welcome to the crew, young yous! I'll take you to the medical ward, and not a protest, not a word!" he said as he ushered them out of the main room.

"Why're you talking like that, guy?" Russell asked him as they left.

"This is how I speak, young tweak! I talk in riddles, I talk in rhymes! I talk as a poet, wouldn't you know it?" Daniel replied.

"...Tweak?"


	3. Adventure Out There

_She __dreamed __of __darkness __that __night__. __Of __shadows...and__fear__._

_The __shadows __seemed __to __form __shapes__...__but __they __were __too __distorted __to __know __for __sure__..._

_What __were __they__?_

_Why __were __they __here__?_

* * *

The next morning, after the Medical Team (consisting of a Chansey, a Jigglypuff, and an Audino) had sufficiently healed the new arrivals, they were taken on a tour of the Base, courtesy of Dusty and Speedy.

"Alright kiddies, you're about to learn all there is to learn about the Society. But you have to swear total secrecy for what you learn here!" Dusty warned them.

"We swear." Lucky promised.

"Safe and sound." Russell said.

"Then let's move onward!" Speedy exclaimed.

They walked back out to the main room and the Starly took over the tour.

"Well this is the Base. Nothing special, just a centuries-old tunnel system that we've fixed up to call home." he said. "Now then, what do you lot know about exploration teams?"

"Oh, that's easy!" Russell said, "They work as parts of Guilds or solo! They take missions to rescue Pokemon or hunt for treasure, and they get big rewards for doing it!"

Speedy nodded briefly before squawking, "Yeah, yeah, uh-huh...well forget all that!"

Russell was taken aback.

"What?" he asked.

"That's not how we do it here. This ain't a Guild, this is a Society." Dusty supplied.

Speedy nodded, "Exactly. We work as separate parts of the same whole. What one team does affects everyone. What everyone does affects everyone else. That's why we have to keep things running smooth as possible, as efficiently as possible."

"How do you do that?" Lucky asked him.

"We do that by splitting up into separate teams, each with a specific job that works for the good of the Society. For example, our team Air Squad is one of the Recon teams in the Society. We map out territories and pick up rumors and leads that we give to the others, so that they can work around them. Our co-team, Ground Squad, does something similar. They pick up intel from the ground by digging, sneaking, and tunneling for clues." Dusty told them.

"Why all the sneaking?" Russell wanted to know.

"Security." Speedy said simply as they continued off, "The more missions we complete, the more enemies we make. Keeping everything low-key increases our chances of not being found and ambushed."

"Oh, that makes sense." Lucky said. He looked around the base and stopped, watching something on the far end of the room. "What's going on over there?"

Speedy turned around to see where he was looking and scoffed, ruffling his feathers.

"That's Tech crew over there. Two Electric-types who run the technological part of the Society. Computers and lights and stuff like that." he said.

Watt and Techno were currently playing tug-of-war with a snaky blue coil of wire and were causing havoc with it. They kept smashing into other members and bumping into their machinery and their shouting could reach even across the base.

"I said, give it to me!" Watt shouted.

"I told you, I can handle it!" Techno shouted back.

"How do Pokemon know how to work a computer?" Russell asked.

"Eheh...funny story, actually." Dusty snickered, "See, we've got two outside Pokemon who bring us the electronic stuff we need. Riff and Parker. They both belong to Trainers, and those Trainers happen to own electrical appliance stores. They can nick some of the stuff off the shelves and they sell it to us for a...good price." she said.

"Riff and Parker...wait, I've heard those names before! Riff the Meowth and Parker the Purrloin! Aren't they criminals?" Lucky asked worriedly.

"They work for us. They're safe." Speedy assured him.

"Now...moving on. Wait a minute, Speedy where's Wally?" Dusty asked, turning to the Starly.

"He ought to be here by now." Speedy told her.

"Gah...sorry kids, you'll have to find someone else to take ya on a tour! We're missing a Wingull!" Dusty squawked as she and Speedy flapped off towards the entrance.

The newcomers looked around for a second before they saw Marcus on the other side of the room, chatting with his teammates.

"C'mon, Russ." Lucky said as he picked up Shaney and started walking towards him.

"Nah man! They'll never show us how to explore like this, just show us around the base." Russell scoffed. "Let's go find where they keep their mission assignments! We'll do one, and show 'em we can do more than tag along around the base!"

Russell stared at him and shook his head, sighing.

"What is it with you and crazy schemes? No. I say we finish our tour and get some actual _training _before we do anything stupid." he said.

"You can play by the rules if ya like, Luck." Russell scoffed as he dashed off towards the crew rooms, "But I'm going on an exploration!"

"Russ! Russ, wait!" Lucky hissed as he dashed after him.

Marcus watched them go and he looked at Miles, his Piplup friend beside him and asked, "Now where do you suppose they're going?"

* * *

In the noticeably quieter corridor that led down to the crew rooms, Russell made his cautious way towards where he guessed Daniel's room would be. He figured that Daniel handled the missions while Syro handled everything else, so his best bet would lie in the Riolu's room.

"Glad you could come along." he said over his shoulder at Lucky and Shaney, who had come up behind him.

"This isn't a good idea, Russell." Lucky told him as he shifted Shaney in his arms. The tiny Scraggy was watching Russell with questioning eyes as he sniffed out Daniel's quarters.

"We'll never get anywhere by just learning how they do things, Luck. We want to be the best exploration team in the world, and we have to get started as soon as we can." the Electrike snapped as he found Daniel's scent on a rosewood door.

"Found it!"

"Russell, you're breaking into Daniel's room?" Lucky asked, shocked.

"Yeah. I got a hunch that the mission assignments are in here." his companion said as he pushed his nose inside and looked around. No sign of Daniel.

"Russell, don't! They have a system here! All of the missions are linked to each other and the teams that do them! We'll imbalance their workings if we do one without permission!" Lucky said desperately as Russell dashed into the room.

"Doing one mission won't wreck everything, Luck! You worry too much!" Russell scoffed as he made his way over to Daniel's desk. He was pleased to find a stack of mission assignments sitting there and he jumped up to the stool, sniffing the pile of papers.

"Get down! We'll get caught!" Lucky growled as Russell probed through the papers.

"Hm...treasure hunting, exploration, aha!" the Electrike exclaimed as he tugged an assignment from the bottom of the pile. He toppled backwards off the stool and was buried in a stack of papers as he imbalanced the pile and sent it tumbling to the ground. Lucky sprang backwards from the fluttering pages as Russell dug himself out and wandered towards him, holding out a file.

"What did you grab?" Lucky asked suspiciously as Russell set it down.

"Catching a criminal." the Electrike smirked.

"WHAT?"

"Yeah! If we catch this guy they'll know we're not messing around!" Russell said.

"But Russ...this is an unknown territory! I don't think the exploration team's even been there yet!" Lucky said as he flipped through the pages, "Emberstrike Cave? Doesn't sound like something we can handle."

"Sure it is! Ember, meaning fire! You're a water type, so that's a plus! And Cave? Rock types! You STILL have the edge!" Russell exclaimed.

"So I'm going to be doing all the work?" Lucky asked incredulously.

"Er...no, no I'll help out! Wait...so you're in? You're in!" Russell said, smiling.

"What - no - I - oh fine." Lucky sighed. "But we ought to leave Shaney here. It's too dangerous."

"Don't be silly! We'll protect him. The sooner he explores something the sooner he can start training!" Russell said.

Lucky rolled up the paper and slipped it into his explorer's pouch, staring at his companion.

"And what about supplies? We are _not_challenging an unexplored dungeon without the proper food and supplies." he said authoritatively.

"We can borrow some from the Society! I'm sure they won't mind." Russell replied.

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Pretty much."

* * *

Thirty minutes later and the junior explorers were ready to leave. Lucky had found the Society's supply room and had retrieved enough to last the three of them a week. They didn't know how far away this dungeon would be, so they had to be ready.

They left when it was night-time, and everyone was asleep. They crept through the quiet headquarters, tiptoed underneath the roosting Air Squad, and slipped past the Ground Squad with ease. Looking back as they left, Lucky felt a weight of dread settling in the pit of his stomach.

But, as the trio stole silently up the ladder and set off down the path, he knew it was too late to turn back.


End file.
